The University of Tulsa is an NCAA Division I member for all sports and a member of the American Athletic Conference. TU moved into The American on July 1, 2014 after dominating Conference USA with more than double the number of league championships than any other conference school in nine years as a C-USA member.

Since the opening of the Donald W. Reynolds Center in 1998, Tulsa’s athletic facilities have undergone a major facelift. New facilities include the Michael D. Case Tennis Center, the Collins Family Softball Complex, the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium, the J. Bird Sr. Shell Nest, the Jack Zink Indoor Rowing Center, the Case Athletic Complex and major renovation to H.A. Chapman Stadium.

The University of Tulsa women’s tennis team returns home after a five-match road swing. TU will open the weekend facing No. 27 Oklahoma State in a 4 p.m. tilt on Friday, March 1 before wrapping the weekend up with a noon tilt on Sunday, March 3, against South Alabama.

The First Serve

• Under Head Coach Dean Orford, TU holds a 5-1 record against Oklahoma State, and is 1-0 against South Alabama.

• The Golden Hurricane is riding a 39-home match-winning streak and TU is a perfect 4-0 at home this season.

• After this weekend, Tulsa will hit the road for the final time during the regular season. The Hurricane will travel to Texas to Face SMU and North Texas next weekend, and will travel to San Francisco to face San Francisco and Saint Mary’s March 18 and 19.

STREAKING AT HOME

Tulsa is currently riding a 39-match win streak at the friendly confines of Case Tennis Center. The streak began Feb. 21, 2010 with a 6-1 triumph over Kansas. The Golden Hurricane won its last 10 home matches in 2010, which included all three matches in the 2010 Conference USA Championship. Tulsa followed that up with an unblemished 14-0 mark at home in 2011, and the team won all 11 matches at home last season. TU is also a perfect 4-0 at home this season. The last time TU fell at Case Tennis Center was Feb. 17, 2010, when the blue and gold dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to in-state rival Oklahoma. Coach Dean Orford has posted a ridiculous 100-11 (.901) home record during his seven-plus seasons at the helm of the women’s program.

LAST TIME OUT:

No. 61 Ohio State (February 23, 2013)

The Tulsa women’s tennis squad, ranked No. 33 in the country, picked up a 6-1 victory over No. 61 Ohio State in a neutral-site match at the Billingsley Tennis Center on Saturday.

Arkansas took a 2-1 lead picking up wins at the No. 4 and 5 flights, but TU fought back to take a 3-2 lead. Enrique defeated Claudine Paulson 6-3, 6-3 to knot the match at two apiece, and Vickers, ranked No. 55 in the country, defeated Yang Pang 6-2, 6-3 to put the Hurricane up 3-2.

The Razorbacks tied the match up at three after McLean beat Farley, 6-3, 6-3 at No. 3 singles.

At No. 6 singles, TU freshman Carol Benito won the first set 6-3, but Brittany Huxley of Arkansas rallied to defeat Benito 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 to clinch the match for the Razorbacks.

he University of Tulsa women’s tennis match scheduled against Oklahoma State on Friday, March 1, has been moved to the Michael D. Case Tennis Center, it was announced today.

The Golden Hurricane will face the Cowgirls in a 4 p.m. tilt inside the confines of the Case Tennis Center. The match was originally scheduled for a 3 p.m. start in Stillwater, Okla. TU will wrap up the weekend facing South Alabama in a 12 p.m. affair on Sunday, March 3.

VICKERS NAMED C-USA PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Junior Samantha Vickers was named C-USA Player of the week for her play during the week of Jan. 28- Feb 3, the league annouced.

Vickers led the Golden Hurricane to two victories over ranked opponents that weekend as the No. 124 singles player in the nation went 4-0. Vickers defeated Lucia Kovalova of Wichita State 6-2, 6-1 as TU defeated No. 64 Wichita State 6-1. Against No. 32 Rice, Vickers defeated No. 50 ranked Natalie Beazant 6-2, 6-0.

She teamed up with sophomore Isaura Enrique to win both doubles matches. The Tulsa tandem defeated Lucia Kovalova and Veronika Blaskova of WSU 8-2, and took down No. 56 Natalie Beazant and Dominque Harmath of Rice 8-3. Vickers and Enrique were ranked No. 9 in the nation and are a perfect 4-0 on the season.

TU (13-3) has now won six of its last seven matches, while the Cowgirls (10-4) saw their recent four-match win streak come to an end.

The Golden Hurricane started play by taking the doubles point. The No. 60-ranked senior team of Anastasia Erofeeva and Ewa Szatkowska topped Kanyapat Narattana and Malika Rose 8-2 on the top court.

Junior Michelle Farley and sophomore Maria Sant’Anna secured the opening point of the match by defeating C.C. Sardinha and Isabela Miro 8-5 at the third flight.

Senior Bonny Davidson and sophomore Samantha Vickers were unable to make it a clean sweep as they fell 8-4 to Meghan Blevins and Mary Jeremiah on the second court.

Jeremiah opened singles play with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Davidson on the sixth singles court.

Oklahoma State went ahead 2-1 after Blevins defeated Szatkowska 6-2, 6-2 at the third position, but the Golden Hurricane was able to bring the proceedings back on even terms after Farley dropped Miro 6-1, 6-4 at the fifth flight.

Tulsa took the final four courts, and freshman Isaura Enrique gave the road side a 3-2 advantage after she defeated Narattana 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 at the fourth position.

No. 91-ranked Erofeeva clinched the team victory after she took down No. 114-ranked Sardinha 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 at the top of the lineup.

Erofeeva’s two victories give her a school-record 205 combined wins for her career. She broke a tie for first place at 203 wins with Aleksandra Durska (1999-03). Erofeeva is 12-3 in singles play this spring.

No. 67 Vickers made the final score 5-2 after she defeated Rose 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 on Court 2. She now owns an 11-2 record this spring.

South Alabama (March 29, 2008)

The University of Tulsa’s women’s tennis team upset the No. 52 South Alabama Jaguars, 5-2, on a cold and windy Saturday morning at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center.

The Golden Hurricane won the dual by winning five of the six singles matches, after dropping the doubles point. Junior Carla Zabaleta clinched the match for Tulsa at the No. 3 position, defeating Erica Krisan after losing the first set, 1-6, 6-3, 6-1. TU’s first singles victory came from sophomore Marta Marcinkowska, who beat Sylvanie Spangenberg, 6-2, 6-2 at the No. 5 position. Marcinkowska is now 9-3 on the season after her victory. Freshman Alexandra Kichoutkin picked up Tulsa’s second victory and her 17th of the season. Kichoutkin downed Adrianna Solarova, 6-1, 7-5, at the No. 1 position. The Golden Hurricane’s third singles win came at the No. 4 position, with sophomore Rebecca Row defeating Katie Welch, 6-2, 6-3. With the win, Row is now 11-6 on the season. Tulsa’s final singles victory came from junior Thalia Diaz-Barriga at the No. 2 position, who upset No. 123 Michaela Babicova, 1-6, 7-6 (8-6), 1-0 (11-9). In TU’s lone singles defeat, senior Agostina Santoro fell to Jelena Krivacevic, 7-5, 6-4, at the No. 6 position.

TU lost the doubles point after dropping two of the three matches. The Golden Hurricane’s lone doubles win came at the No. 2 position, with the pair of Diaz-Barriga / Marcinkowska beating the team of Babicova / Welch, 8-1. But after winning the first doubles match, TU fell in the next two. At the No. 1 position, Row / Zabaleta lost to the 35th-ranked pair of Solarova / Spangenberg, 8-3. The duo of Kichoutkin / Webster fell to Krisan / Krivacevic, 8-4.

TULSA EARNS NO. 25 PRESEASON RANK

The University of Tulsa will begin the 2012 spring campaign as the No. 25-ranked team in the nation, according to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings released January 3. Junior Samantha Vickers and sophomore Isaura Enrique were ranked No. 9 in doubles, the highest ranking in program history. Vickers also checked in at the No. 124 spot in singles.

Vickers, Enrique Shine at National Indoors

Junior Samantha Vickers and sophomore Isaura Enrique advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in Flushing, N.Y. After receiving a first round bye, the Tulsa tandem dispatched USC’s Gabriella DeSimone and Zoe Scandalis before falling to the tournament runner-ups Li Xi and Stephanie Nauta in the quarterfinals.

Junior Sam Vickers and sophomore Isaura Enrique defeated Kansas State’s Petra Niedermayerova and Ivana Kubicova in the doubles finals at the USTA/ITA Central Regional Championship. The Tulsa tandem dispatched the Wildcats 8-3 in the finals to secure a berth to the National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships. Vickers and Enrique are the first Golden Hurricane players since Jana Sedivecc and Jennifer DeSpain to win the regional title in doubles play. In singles play, Vickers, ranked No. 44 in the preseason ITA rankings, faced Niedermayerova in a tilt featuring the tournament’s number one and number two seeds. Vickers fell to Nidermayerova, the No. 14 ranked player in the nation, 6-1, 7-5.

TULSA WINS FIFTH CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP IN LAST SIX YEARS

The Golden Hurricane went to Memphis, Tenn., looking to defend its league title, and the team did exactly that by winning the 2012 Conference USA Women’s Tennis Championship. TU took down No. 40 Rice in the championship match April 22 by a 4-2 margin. Tulsa won its third-straight league crown and its fifth title in the last six years, marking the most dominant stretch in C-USA history. The five championships are the most by any team in league history, and Tulsa became just the second program in league history to claim three-straight championships (Tulane 2003-05). The Golden Hurricane topped East Carolina 4-0 in the quarterfinals and then survived a 4-3 scare from Memphis in the semifinals before beating the Owls in the finals.

A league-record six members of the Tulsa women’s tennis team earned Conference USA postseason accolades. The number tied last year’s Tulsa squad and Tulane’s 2004 team with the most honorees by one team in league history. Senior Anastasia Erofeeva and sophomore Samantha Vickers led the way for the Golden Hurricane, as both members of the team were named to the All-Conference USA Singles First Team for the first time in their respective careers. Senior Ewa Szatkowska and freshman Isaura Enrique were both named to the All-Conference USA Singles Second Team, while senior Bonny Davidson and junior Michelle Farley were both named to the All-Conference USA Third Team. Szatkowska was on the third team and Farley made the second team last season. Davidson and Enrique earned their first-career laurels. The doubles team of Erofeeva and Szatkowska were named to the All-Conference USA Doubles Second Team. Coach Dean Orford shared Conference USA Coach of the Year honors with Rice’s Elizabeth Schmidt. This was his first time splitting the award, and he has been named coach of the year five of the last six seasons.

TULSA AT THE C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP

Tulsa has competed in seven C-USA Championships since joining the league in 2005-06, and the Golden Hurricane has captured five of the last six titles. TU began its run in 2007, when the team defeated third-seed Marshall 4-0 in the finals. The Golden Hurricane has been the No. 1 seed in four of the last six tournaments (2007-08, 2011-12) and the No. 2 seed the other two years (2009-10). Tulsa defeated Marshall in the championship match during its first three title runs (2007-08, ‘10), the team topped SMU 4-3 in last year’s final, and the Golden Hurricane defeated Rice 4-2 to win the 2012 championship. Tulsa owns an all-time record of 18-2 (.900) in the Conference USA Championship, and the team has advanced to the finals each of the last five years.

EROFEEVA ENDS HER CAREER WITH 2 SCHOOL RECORDS

Senior Anastasia Erofeeva ended her illustrious career as Tulsa’s all-time record holder for career doubles wins (107) and career combined wins (218). She is also second all-time with 111 singles victories. She is the first player in school history to win 100 doubles matches, and she is also the first player in school history to hit triple digits in both singles and doubles. Fellow senior Ewa Szatkowska teamed with Erofeeva for 82 of those 107 doubles victories. Szatkowska ended her career with 93 career doubles victories of her own, which is second on the school’s all-time charts. Her 88 singles wins are sixth in school history, and she is fourth all-time with 181 career combined victories. Junior Michelle Farley is eighth on the school charts with 75 singles wins and she is ninth with 126 combined wins. Sophomore Samantha Vickers won 32 singles matches in 2011-12, which was the third-most in a single season in school history. Erofeeva and Farley both won 29 singles matches to tie for ninth-most in a single season in school history.

TULSA SETS SCHOOL RECORD FOR WEEKLY ACCOLADES

The Golden Hurricane won a school-record six Conference USA Women’s Tennis Athlete of the Week honors in 2012, breaking the old mark of five weekly laurels set in 2008. Those six honors were split by senior Anastasia Erofeeva (Jan. 31, March 13, March 20) and sophomore Samantha Vickers (Jan. 24, April 3, April 17). Erofeeva and Vickers each captured three accolades in 2012, which tied the school record .

TU Finishes 18th In Final Fall Learfield Cup Standings

After the completion of all the fall NCAA Championships, The University of Tulsa is ranked 18th in the Division I Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup standings. Tulsa has totaled 239 points and is the highest ranked team in Conference USA and in the state of Oklahoma. The next closest C-USA teams are SMU, ranked 56th, and UCF, ranked 58th. In the state of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State is ranked 24th and Oklahoma is 27th.